With Pen and Paper

Do you remember how I talked about how great flying is? How you feel utter freedom as you glide over the planes of the plains below you?

Well, let me reword it: you only get to feel free and ecstatic when you are flying yourself, otherwise you are mostly beset by terrible boredom and the terrible stiffness in your legs, which in turn came from a quite glaring design error on the Tel`taks: they had no passenger seats. Should I ever get my own Tel`tak, something quite unlikely as ships with a hyper drive are generally too important (or rather too easy to escape with), to be given away to someone, who does not enjoy a lords complete trust or has to fulfil a task, which is completely necessary. At least that was the theory, in fact it was a rather arduous (and expensive) process of bribery and flattery needed to get a ship and a clearing to leave the airspace, but usually someone, who needs to go through this and does not have an own ship is deemed to unimportant to be a danger anyway.

Back to the start: Should I ever get a Tel`tak of my own I`m going to install seats inside of it: right now me and Lateus, as well as another Jaffa from a close village, who worked as my carrier and guard from time to time, were simply standing in the cargo hold of the ship, not speaking, not moving and simply staring at the different ornaments on the walls of the ships walls. Standing like this for hours wasn`t that terrible, especially with a symbiont in your body, but it was still stifling and it was not as if I could start chatting with my three companions, or pull out a scroll to continue with my work. I hard barely finished my mourning routine, before a Jaffa with the strange rocking chair symbol of Zipacna on his forehead was standing before my door and holding out an invitation by his Lord himself. With my reports sealed and on their way to Chulak, I did not have any excuse and had to follow the invitation one of the Lord Apophis most powerful vassals had extended to me and thus I found myself standing in this Tel`tak, which had set course for an island group in the southern hemisphere of Chulak, which was holding one of Zipacna`s summer palaces. Still….I had hoped a Tel`tak would be faster in the atmosphere, but we still had to fly for nearly an hour or two to reach the other side of the planet, even if most of the time was lost in the procedures regarding the takeoff and landing. Seeing a little movement to my left, I bit out sternly:

"Don`t fidget."

The rebuked youth stopped his movement and Var`tac from the Du`jian family, looked up to me, his face forming a grimace for a single moment, till he stiffened and tried to stand as impassive as possible as once more….which might be more and more motivated by the darkening shade of red Lateus was taking on behind me as he glared at the youth. With a sigh I leaned down and my hands stroke over the collar of his livery, the dark green leather making him appear even thinner as he squirmed in it and the stiff collar seemed to dig into his neck until I opened it a little and exposed the already reddened skin. I guess he had to be thankful that his family had given him a few normal clothes, when the morning after the betrothal came and they gave him into my custody, seemingly terribly pleased to have found an occupation for their youngest son, who seemed to have shown neither an aptitude for agriculture nor the most taxing personal training under one of the older masters…which might just end up with him ending up in a battle to death with his training partner. In the end it might be for the best, that I had -somewhere between cutting up to beef and waking up in most spacious guestroom they had (which was in truth the elders chambers)- taken him into my services as an aspiring scribe. On the other hand: he was now the single apprentice of Lateus and I honestly couldn`t be any more relieved to be his superior and goddess. The veteran might be a limb short and his face might be a mangled mess on one side, but his hits were strong enough to make me hear the boys cries in my office, then as it seems old Lateus might not be a good teacher, but a terrible good boxer and followed the thought of a student having his eyes on the back.

Looking forward towards the door parting us from the cockpit, I let out a sigh once more, how long will this take? Turning back to the youth I tilted my head to the side: Maybe I can show him how to fly? Being able to read and understanding a bit about ships would at least allow him to enter naval service and maybe he would end up either in the engine room or on the bride, both options that might allow him to life a bit saver, while at the same time having a high rate of…well defection in the face of enemy staff weapons, as people who can read and understand enough about our "magic" aren`t that easy to come by, while you do not have some kind of educational system. Shaking my head once more: after all a few years till he`s old enough might not be much to a Goa'uld with a live expectancy measured in centuries even without the use of a sarcophagi. That he might be part of the Jaffa rebellion in six years, when he turns of age -at least to my sentiments, of course it would only take three more for him to become of age in the eyes of his culture and family- was a once again frightening concept. Each and every memory I had access to were enwrought with a mentality of…of…eternity. The Rule of the Goa'uld was seemingly without a border in space (well maybe except of the mysterious Asgard) and no ending in time, as plots and plans could be made for decades in the future and baring some unfortunate happenings, the ones who thought up the plan would be there to oversee it and a whole generation of Jaffa might have been trained for this single purpose. I could not think in a decade long plan, not at all.

Hiding the shiver that run over my spine, I turn towards my companions and instruct them to wait as I head over to the front door, opening it and stepping into the cockpit, the single Jaffa pilot with his red eye piece looking up and bowing his head, before returning to flying. Slipping into the co-pilot seat next to him and looking over to the four sarcophagi like escape pods behind us, I shake my head and instead take the second red eyepiece, the sensor eye fitting quite easily after hooking its golden handles behind my left ear and soon my vision was half dominated by flowing charted and an ever chancing amount of symbols and numbers. The small red tint of the gem was a bit bothersome, but it did allow me to use a zoom function as we seemed to slowly reach our aim, the sensor enlarging the picture before me as we flew towards Zipacna`s private island, peeking out of the peaceful and blue sea.

It was breath taking view and the tall mountains, with the settlement nestled against its side and reaching down towards a busy and lively harbor, with dozens of ships in all sizes coming and leaving, did remind me quite a bit of Capri. The lower city seemed quite Greek, most likely a remnant from Cronos times on the planet and the whole place seemed to give out a wonderfully Mediterranean feeling, with its red tiled roofs and the wide and open promenades through the city. Sadly there was one point in which the city reminded me more of Rome, and that was the large central structure, seemingly crushed into the cityscape and totally at odds with the rest of the architecture and color, just like the Altare della Patria, which wasn`t nicknamed the Schreibmaschine or macchina da scrivere, the building Zipacna had rammed into the old cityscape seemed terribly ill at place.

The palace was stretched through the whole center of the city, reaching to the sea itself, with the further pyramid standing on a cliff above the seat itself. Zipacna`s origin as a maya god or demon, seemed rather clear with the precise layout of his palace, that was altogether different from the naturally grown cluster of the city around it, from above I could five massive step pyramids, made from some kind of grey or dark grey stone and covered in ornaments and clashing colors, which were connected by multileveled platforms, which in turn surrounded two courts, each easily as big as a football field. Even from above here the corbelled roofing of the pyramids was impressive and each of them either a palace or another room Zipacna would need, with smaller buildings grouped around them and housing the guards and store houses for his residence. As the Tel`tak swung its stubby nose around and started to loose altitude, the pilot heading for a space close to the harbor, on which other Tel`taks and Deathgliders seemed to be set down in loose lines, with long open spaces open for the latter to take off again. A glyph before him lit up and touching it with one hand, he spoke into it:

"Moriav, bringing the most industrious scribe and Lady Anai with me."

After a moment the glyph seemed to lit up once more and a hushed voice replied from the other side, a last and final kree, being heard before the glyph lost its light once more and the pilot lowered the Tel`tak to the ground, its nose turning until it fit perfectly into a line of four other ships of this class, all looking towards the palance of Zipacna and from the ground level the view was even more impressive than from the air.

"An adequate landing."

Was the most of a praise I could offer the pilot as I rose my chair and nodded at his bow, putting down the sensor eye as I stepped through the bulkhead and back into the cargo room. Stepping before my three companions once more, I gestured them to follow me as I opened the door leading out of the ship and strode out onto the airfield, the grass pressed down all around us and the equivalents of a Jaffa ground crew was sitting around not too far from us, only to jump on their feet as soon as they saw me and the respect with which the Jaffa behind me acted around me. Simply walking past them with my companions, who did cover at least three generations as I think about it, I head towards the gate leading out of the small wall that surrounded the field and was topped with two sentry towers and a few Jaffa, who were more milling around than really guarding anything.

We were further south than Dazai plains and did enjoy a far warmer climate, part of the reason why Zipacna did seemed to have chosen this island as the place, where his most luxurious temple on Chulak had to be built. As we stepped out of the spaceship complex, we walked right into the bustling life of the island: the presence of a Goa'uld Lord as rich and powerful as Zipacna did increase the local activities and increased the general standard of living, as many projects were done to improve and beautify the city. Of course they were never intended for the good of the Jaffa, that was merely a side effect, just like victory monuments in form of fountains did help with public hygiene. All in all, the people of Vivienne, as the Island was called after some goddess who once founded the city (and was most likely a vassal of either Zeus or Cronos if one can believe the tales), were cleaner and well-nourished than their counterparts in the north I had met so far, they clothing being a lighter tone of white and grey, using a thinner fabric than those in the north. Another thing, which quickly became apparent was their use to having their gods walk among them: it wasn`t like they were more any less reverent towards me than the Jaffa I had met so far, but they did the rituals and then were busy with their work once more. It wasn`t done disrespectfully, but they simply had to resume their work and did not gawk as much as the villages I had meet in the outer settlements so far: for them a god walking done the street happened every day and not every century like in the village, where I picked up my new ward.

Still, the market stands we went past were in a totally other league than the small weekend markets you had in the Dazai plains: even with the Stargate half a planet away, the amount of goods which were clearly not from Chulak and included things from foreign gold work, expensive furs or the gigantic bones of a large predator from a feral world at the edge of known space (or so the trader proclaimed loudly). All kind of people walked through the plaza`s that were built at the intersections of the street and I would guess that the population would be up to a hundred thousand people at least, with maybe a bit less of them being the steady and settled inhabitants and ten thousands of workers and artists living in the city for one project or another. Dark Grey and brown clad Jaffa from the colder areas, colorful and lightly clad artists performing tricks and plays on the street, traders hailing from Yu`s domains with an Asian influence on their features and clad in bright red and yellow robes and heavy hats. In between the steady presence of chainmail armored troops, who patrolled the streets with Mo`tak weapons over their shoulders and small bags with the silver coins Zipacna was striking himself, with his symbol on the backside and a Ha'tak on the other. Pulling into a small alcove next to a fountain, with the usual pedestrians leaving us our space as I looked at my entourage and reached for my belt, pulling out a small bag of coins I had taken from my private cassette before we left and gave it to the nameless Jaffa -whose name I hadn`t bothered to learn as he simply was one of the dozen, the village usually send with me when I was away-, pointing to the boy:

"You are to find something to eat for you and him and then show him the market, we can`t have him imagining that the whole galaxy looks like his home village."

That the warriors home didn`t look far different was unsaid, but from his looks he had already been on a campaign or two and wasn`t as star struck as Var'tac was, who was still busy gawking at every little thing, which he didn`t know from his home….which was frankly nearly everything. For a moment I considered warning them and ordering them to only eat in cookshops where they could watch the preparations of their meal with their very own eyes. But they were Jaffa, they were not likely to get any food poisoning that the symbiont wouldn`t throw off without them even noticing and as such they could go and try whatever they want as long as it wasn`t downright poison. Seeing the questioning look the Jaffa gave the boy and then me, I leaned forward and my eyes flashed golden as I hissed:

"You dare to question me? Jaffa! Kree!"

He flinched appropriately and moved backwards with a bow, his hand on the boys shoulder as I looked at them grimly and turned to Lateus, who was smirking lightly, supporting himself with a walking cane and leaning onto his wooden leg:

"Lateus always has his knife with him, I will be safe enough."

I could see the doubt in his eyes, but I only had to smile as I imagined what Lateus would do to whatever fool that would try mugging us of all things…not to forget that my symbiont didn`t really make me a slouch too and a knife was always at someone's belt….even if only to cut something. As the Jaffa and Va'tac moved away, I gestured Lateus to follow, the century old veteran surely bursting from pride and devotion right now: something that put me ill at ease but it was quite comforting to know, that I could ask anything of him and he would gladly do so, as long as it wasn`t something directly aimed against Apophis himself. Not that I had any delusions, if it came to the security of a one legged Jaffa and a simple Goa'uld scribe in Zipacna`s palace, should its owner decide that we were an obstacle. It had gnawed on me on the whole way to Vivienne: What reason might he have to invite me to his summer residence? Privately that is: I wasn`t to enter with one of the groups of supplicants that were let into the court regularly but instead had to use the eastern entrance closer to the sea and the guards over there would be informed to let me in. As we were invited I did not see much sense in drawing things out and accompanied by Lateus I moved towards the side of the palace that was closer to the sea, the large step pyramid marking the most eastern extension of the complex set nearly on the edge of the cliffs that rose high above the sea.

The market stands faded away as we came closer and closer to the palace, instead replaced by more spacious houses, home for the less powerful Goa'uld, which still had found a reason to life this close to the palace and the god living in it. Even here the signs of the old were existing next to the symbols Zipacna had brought with him, when he started to reign this region: the walls offered small alcoves for house shrines, which were done either with small columns framing them or with a single decorative column, on which offerings could be placed down to show allegiance to one superior or another. They were not only decorative, but also a nice identification mark if it came to one political purge or another, but right now they were another example for Zipacnas influence on this city: above the classical Greek elements of the shrines, where the Glyphs, signs and frescoes that belonged to the Maya art, that he had taken as his own style.

Clearing past the houses, we arrived at one of the elevated platforms and started to climb to stairs up to it with our heads hold high and our eyes as confident as possible, the guards simply looking in our way and as I came closer to the closed gate, I flashed my eyes once and raised my hand, showing the ring with my bird like sigil on it, before crying out once more:

"Jaffa! Kree!"

My voice booming over their lowered head as they opened the door and the dozen Jaffa that manned the ornately carved in walls, let us pass unmolested and with a respectful distance, even if we soon became aware of at least four shadows that were trailing behind us and slowly moved us deeper into the complex and closer towards the sea. Soon the breeze of salty water was filling the air and we moved between the tall walls, that were showing scenes of a…feast? I wasn`t sure enough but the kindly blocky figures on the stone were indulging in drinks, food and woman from what I could see, the highlights kindly marked in red against the more dominating green, grey or black. Entering another half enclosed area of sorts we were confronted with dozens of pools, a large pump installed in the middle of it and steadily pushing out more and more water. Walking over to it, I reached out and dipped my fingertips into the water, before bringing them up to my lips, grimacing slightly as I tasted the salt and swiped away once more.

"Scribe Anai."

Turning slowly -instead of spinning around and crying out in surprise as this would definitely not have befitted my station- I came face to face with a human servant, wearing one of the glittering leather jerkins Zipacna himself wore from time to time and also wearing some jewelry as signs of his elevated position: most likely his lo'taur, which was a bit worrying. After all sending a single simple servant to fetch me, might have been more appropriate, than sending ones emergency host into "danger" and to get a simply scribe.

"Lo`taur…"

Seeing me trail off, he bowed deeply and finished or rather answered my questioning words with:

"…Eadrich. I welcome you in Vivienne and the palace of my master Lady Anai. He himself is waiting at the northern pools."

Looking at the man for a last time, musing if he maybe was some kind of good luck charm to his master, I strode forward towards the direction he was indicating, having his bowed lightly and extended his arm towards the direction. Lateus was moving behind me, each step accompanied by the small click of his cane, until we went past another pair of pools and spotted two figure I knew…and he as well, or at least he seemed to do, as I sunk on his knees and prayed softly, not even stopping to give the human servant a glare, as he did not seem to match the reverence.

I for my part, forced a smile, which I was not feeling at all with the foreboding that particular duo evocated in me. Stepping closer, I performed a small half bow, greeting both of my superiors as I intoned lightly:

"May our Lord Apophis watch over you, Greetings to you Lord Zipacna, favorite of our Lord and Greetings to you Lord Ata'suf."

Seeing them both look silently at me, I continued and smiled pleasantly and servile:

"I have followed your summon as quick as possible and stand here as you servant: what commands do you have for me?"

The smile they gave each other wasn`t something comforting and I knew for sure that it wasn`t even completely fake, which made it especially unsettling as I knew, that those two would have no qualms to stab each other in the back, as soon as they seemed to get a higher gain from it, than they would get from working together. But on the other hand, that didn`t mean that those two did not honestly like each other in some way or another, but it was a simple fact that friendship was less important than power and influence. Still…having the local Lord and the highest ranking scribe on the planet both before me and seemingly in a "good" mood was a situation which did not bode well for a long ranking scribe as me. Ata'suf threw Zipacna an amused smile after my introduction and bowed lightly as the Lord himself turned to me with his hands on his back as he gave me a perfectly charming smile and said:

"Lady Anai, how fortunate you could follow my summon…say: how do you like Vivienne?"

Smugness seemed to drip from his word behind the friendly tone, after all it wasn`t as if I could ignore his summons, no matter how nicely worded they were, he was still leagues above me in rank and dejecting his summons might not only be an offence he might remember, but even if I could invoke important business for Lord Apophis, he might still bring it before the highest God himself and the ire I would feel would come from even further above me. Only bellowing my head, with not much else to do, I answered as praising as possible:

"It`s a city of wonders and with a thriving populace, staring at awe at the monuments, which were build up in your glory Lord Zipacna, this island truly deserves to be called the jewel of the southern islands and your palace has completed the local cityscape in a way, which would hardly be possible with any other style."

His smile seemingly grew wider and I wasn`t sure if that was because of the praise, or because he knew something I had no idea about and which was about to bite me in my divine rear. For now, he seemed to gesture to his side and I followed the motion towards a couple of seemingly new pools, their walls from freshly carved out stone and their water still clearer than the rest, allowing me to look inside and see…crabs? Dozens over dozens of crabs, which were swimming and crawling over one another.

"Yes…my while pride, these five pools were finished only a few weeks ago and they are going to cost me all in all, up to a dozen weights to pay for them…well but I only do have to pay the craftsman after the harvest, after all they will have to finish the work on the rest of the pools first."

My polite smile remained frozen on my face, as I looked up to him and slowly did the math…remembering the report in which I estimated the worth of the crops that would have been lost by the tax evasion at around thirteen weights, now him mentioning this could…hardly be a coincidence….but how did he know…

Ata'suf used this moment to walk over to the two of us, smiling just as pleasantly as if he was guessing my thoughts and said:

"I was visiting the palace today, to prepare the last few supplies needed before Lord Zipacna`s troops can venture out to claim the territory that`s rightfully our Lords. It was here that I got the missive and report you had forwarded and it was quite an interesting read: how showing how widespread the corruption our ranks have become and how they won`t even stop when it comes to stealing from our Lord."

The sad shake of his might have overdone it a little, but it said a lot about his abilities as actor, that the minister -or something similar in his function- of all scribes could say this with a straight face, with his tone matching his expression and seemingly expressing genuine shock and regret at the thought of someone stealing money from our lords taxes!

The solemn nod from Lord Zipacna himself didn`t make it much better as he said:

"It grieves me terribly: how someone I entrusted with such an important post could use my trust in him to try enrichening himself on the cost of our Lord. I have taken the liberty of bringing him in."

With a clap of his hands a pair of Jaffa exit a close entrance in the wall, between them walks a tall and dark haired Goa'uld, wearing those popular leather jerkins and loose pants, while being covered in little gimmicks and jewelry, before he bows low and he says:

"My Lord you asked for me?"

Zipacna struck a pose of righteous anger as he glared at the man and his eyes narrowed:

"You dare to step before me? After you misused my trust to put aside funds from the taxes belonging to our lord? Tell me what you did with it: did you buy yourself even more useless glittering junk for your collection?"

The scribe looked at his Lord dumbstruck, confusion etched on his face as he cried out:

"My Lord: I only followed your commands truthfully…I do not understand why…."

Zipacna`s eyes flashed angrily as he roared out:

"You dare?!"

His right hand rose and the Kara kesh came to life, starting to glow in a threatening orange and his face etched into a mask of anger, which truly befit his legends and belittled the usual genial personality he seemed to bear. Gathering in his palm with all its might, the Kara kesh finally unloaded itself in the direction of the poor scribe, the two Jaffa having left in anticipation of their lords anger and as it was funneled by the device, it formed a blast wave that pushed the other scribe of his feet and into the air, where he flailed around with his arms in midair. His airborne phase only lasted for a moment, in the next a loud splash could be heard as he landed in one of the new pools, a red tint starting to color the water and rising from his head. But he seemed to have survived the collision with the wall under the water, maybe cushioned by it and started to move around, trying to get out once more…but as his trembling hands slipped off the edge of the pool, he was meet by the sneering visage of his patron and Lord, who calmly raised a Mo`tak staff and spit out the plasma that seared through his face, burning right through it and turning his brain into so much vapor, the now nearly headless corpse falling backwards into the water…where it was slowly starting to be swarmed by the crabs, who sensed their new meal.

This could have been me.

Looking at those with wide eyes, I did my best not to shiver, but flinched as Zipacna closed the tip of the Mo`tak once more and gave it back to one of the Jaffa guarding them, his friendly smile once more back on his face and mirrored by Ata'suf, who praised:

"A truly wonderful aim my lord, quite decisive and cleanly through his head."

They were chatting as amicable as bevor, as if they hadn`t just killed someone and left his floating corpse in a pool to be eaten by crabs…I could see it right now! Once more this drove home how terribly…ruthless Goa'uld can be…not inhuman…but simply cold. Zipacna`s laughter and his reply didn`t make it much better as he said:

"Well: I couldn`t let him endanger my crabs with his movements, he could have end up kicking one of them…and right now: well I don`t think their diet will be any worse with him in it. Quite disappointing….but he was one more into festivals and creating contacts, than being ready to be shot at…"

I had a cold feeling as he looked at me at the second part of the sentence, Ata'suf nodding lightly as he also gave me a grin and said seemingly friendly:

"Quite different from you Lady Anai….you haven`t visited a single festival since your arrival and you haven`t even had the time to visit your colleagues and the other scribes in your district from Lord Zipacna`s side. Your hardworking nature is appreciated."

The dread in my belly seemed to gather into a ball as I tried to think about what they truly meant…obviously it had to do with contacts and…how I had strived to keep away from any contact with other Goa'uld, not fitting into the already existing networks and…not knowing what kind of underhand deals had already been made before I arrived. I could kick myself….I closed my eyes…now they were going to…

"So when we talked about what or rather whom our campaign would need, we remembered your name and thought that a hardworking and straightforward individual as you…",

Straightforward? They are now calling me dumb?

"…might be just what the legion from your district might need to organize the supplies and logistics. As you are also unbloodied right now, a bit of experience on the march would help you perfectly to advance when you return home."

If I return home…well, this was a surprisingly elegant way of them to get me out of the way, so maybe someone higher up was watching out for me and having me disappear wasn`t going to work? Still, with the smiling faces before me and the mocking lights in their eyes, I couldn`t do much more than bow and say softly:

"Of course my lords, I`m thankful for this chance…I`m not going to disappoint."

With a smile Zipacna put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a wide grin:

"A woman after my own hearth: I can see you will make our Lord proud, quartermaster Anai. Before the moon of Chulak has risen to its full view once more our Legions will have embarked on their travels to the planet of Lylian. From there our campaign to secure our lords just heritage will begin."

Looking at the two man I closed my eyes and gasped out in a faint attempt of humor, with my voice taking in a mad booming effect on its way out from my lips:

"AND THEN WE TRY AND TAKE OVER THE GALAXY!"

The laughter, which followed my declaration and the encouraging nods, only showed me one thing:

I was truly surrounded by madman.